Until We Sleep
by Amba
Summary: What happens to Vegeta and Kakarott when they finally start to grow old and all their human friend are dead? Please note that I ignore GT completely, for me the story ends with DBZ!


Well, this is my first longer Story in English, so please forgive me my mistakes as I did not have any native speakers to correct this...° Thanks to Anthrax for beta-reading... and now have fun with the story!

Fandom: DbZ Rating: PG16 Warnings: death,limone (well, I think it's not as bad as this sounds...°) Disclaimer: DbZ belongs to Toriyama-sensei alone. I do not earn any money with this Story.

Until We Sleep

He stood in front of the bed, glancing down at the face he knew so well, now wrinkled, the cheeks sunken in, eyes closed, the skin a slightly greyish colour matching the grey though still full hair surrounding it.  
He stood, watching the features of the man who had once been his greatest enemy, his rival, who had become his ally, even his friend, the only one left of his kind, the only one who had ever come close to matching him in combat.  
He looked down at the man whom he perhaps felt closest to, especially now that Chichi and Bulma and all their human friends were dead and their sons had families of their own.

He looked down at him and tried to keep the tears from running down his cheeks when he finally realized that Vegeta was going to die.

They had always had a very... special relationship. He knew how difficult it had been for proud Vegeta to be weaker than him, especially as he was the prince of all Saiyajin and Goku was just an ordinary soldier, so that had always been a problem between them, especially when earth had been threatened once again and the prince had not been able to do something about it himself.

But they had fought side by side in many battles and Goku knew that the universe would probably not exist anymore if not for his companion. In the fight against demon Boo, Vegeta had risked to lose even his afterlife and to vanish completely, when, already dead, he had fought their much stronger enemy to give Goku time to collect enough energy for the genkidama which had finally killed their enemy.

This had probably been the most frightening experience in Goku's life...And, of course, they had been one for a while before this final fight...

Neither of them could remember anything of the time when they had been Vegeto, but when they had been separated again, Goku had felt a bond between them that he had not been able to explain to himself. It almost seemed that sometimes he could sense the other's feelings... and this bond had brought with it a feeling of incompleteness, a desire to be with Vegeta again to fill this emptiness inside him.

A desire which had, of course, finally lent to this autumn night the year peace had returned to earth and all their friends and families had been alive again. The night Goku had always tried not to think of, but most of the time had failed miserably.  
They had been sparring all day, which they had practically been doing all the time back then. Somehow, Goku had not been able to stand being with his family for too long and Vegeta was the only one he really wanted to be with, probably due to that strange bond between them. Anyway, as they had sat in the gravity room in the evening, exhausted after a long fight... something had happened between them...

Goku closed his eyes, not wanting the now-so-painful memory to come back, but could not help remembering Vegeta's mouth against his... their tongues entwined in a passionate dance... the prince's hands exploring every part of his body, evoking feelings Goku had not even dreamed of... a desire dwarfing anything he had ever experienced. The burning sensation of Vegeta deep inside him, fireworks exploding in his groins... and then, at least, the sweetest relief one could ever imagine as he had collapsed under his friend only to go to sleep almost immediately in Vegeta's arms.

The next morning he had awoken frightened and confused in the empty gravity room, confronted with feelings he did not even want to explain to himself, let alone to others.

And so he had spent years and years trying to pretend nothing had happened (not doing too well, though). He had gone back to sparring with his sons or sometimes with Piccolo (that was, before Namekian had had an argument of some kind with Gohan and disappeared from the Sons' life, Gohan refusing to give any explanation) and had only met Vegeta at the occasional meetings of the Z-senshi Bulma had arranged, where he had tried not to meet the other's eye and had had a tough time making normal conversation when part of him had only wanted to grab the smaller warrior, teleport them to a place where they would be alone and do things with him he did not allow himself to think of. And then, of course, he had been off training Oob, Boo's reincarnation, who had inherited the demon's power but not his wickedness. In those years, he had seen no one of his friends, not even his family. Had this decision also had something to do with trying to forget Vegeta and what had happened between them? He guessed so.

However, it had been years until he had really talked to the other again. Precisely speaking, he had only gone back to the Capsule Corporation where Vegeta lived with his son when Chichi, like Bulma a few years earlier, had finally died of old age and all of a sudden he had felt terribly alone as there had been almost no one of his friends left. He had tried not to go, but then... it had been years since that night and he had to confess to himself that he really missed sparring with Vegeta, talking to him, just spending time together... he had allowed himself to think no farther, but those had been enough reasons for him.

And so they had met again... at first it had been strange pretending nothing had happened, pretending all the years in which they had avoided each other's company had never passed... but then, they had noticed quickly that nothing had really changed between them. Of course, they were different now... but basically, their friendship, or whatever it was, had survived the years quite undamaged. They had begun spending time with each other again, sparring every morning as they had done years before, but also talking, sometimes even laughing.  
Goku had enjoyed the other's company, after all those years, more than he would ever have told him.

They had had many years left... enough time, Goku had always thought. But even though they had talked about almost everything (oh yes, how the prince had changed concerning that matter...), they had never talked about that one night. It had not seemed necessary at the time, and it had always felt to him as though the topic could destroy too much in means of their friendship...

But then, the prince had finally started to age, while Goku's body still remained the same. He should have thought of it, of course, Vegeta was a few years older than him, he should have been prepared... but the swift descend from the strong and proud warrior he had known for so long to the old man dying in this bed had been the most terrible thing Goku had ever experienced. He almost wished he had been the first of them to leave... just so he wouldn't have to stand here beside his dying companion, not able to do anything but watch...

And suddenly, he felt a sharp stab of regret he did not quite understand... what had he missed? Was there anything he hadn't understood when it had seemed like their time together would never end? He closed his tear-shrouded eyes, reached down and touched the prince's forehead... and finally, he understood.

He collapsed beside the bed, stunned by the simple truth he had missed for so long... he had been so stupid.  
But now, nothing mattered. Nothing but the feeling inside him, free at last, filling him simultaneously with joy and with the deepest sadness one could ever imagine, but most of all with the desire to clutch the prince - his prince - in his arms and never let go again.  
And that was what he did. Vegeta didn't even move when Goku wrapped his arms around him and cried on his shoulder. Violent sobs shook the tall Saiyajin's body, and between them, there were words... a stuttered confession in the face of death.

'Vegeta... I'm sorry... I didn't understand, but... I was afraid... I'm so sorry; you'll hate me for this, but... I have to tell you... what, you probably don't even hear me... but... please don't go... don't leave me... I need you so much... Vegeta... I... I love you...'

Then the sobs became unintelligible and Goku broke down for good. But suddenly, he felt a tiny movement beneath him. Stunned, he looked up.

Vegeta's eyes were open.

And then, the prince opened his mouth and Goku heard his beloved's voice... again... after what seemed like years... It sounded weak, but oh what a wonder it was...

'Well, that's... hardly a reason to cry, is it?'

Goku could only stare at him, tears still streaming down his cheeks. What did that mean?  
Could it be...

'You look terrible, baka. I... wondered when you would notice... Well, you've always been a bit... slow...'

His eyes closed and for one terrible moment Goku thought, that was it, he's dead... but then they opened again and Vegeta spoke.

'Now, would you please stop staring at me? What, are you... waiting for me to die? Well. You don't really think... I'd do that before we're finished, do you?'

Goku didn't understand anything. Vegeta couldn't mean... He just couldn't...

'Do you say...'

For a moment Vegeta looked like he always had when thinking 'oh-my-god-how-stupid-you-are-Kakarott.  
Then his expression softened.

'I could hardly tell you that I love you, could I, baka? I had to wait... And I had almost... lost hope... but you're really a bit slow... Always been...'

He couldn't continue. Goku had pulled him into his arms again and shut his mouth with a worlds-end kiss in which he put all the feelings he had neither the proper words nor the time to express. He wanted it to continue forever... he wanted to say so much, do so much... but he knew there was only so little time... so little...

Finally, Vegeta pushed Goku away a little and looked into his lover's - because that was what they were, what they had always been - eyes. Now there were also tears in his eyes, the first time Goku ever saw him cry...

'Kakarott... do you think... my soul...'

'Don't think about that, Vegeta! You won't die yet! You can't! You...'

The tears strangled Goku's voice.  
Vegeta shook his head, ever-so-slightly...

'Don't talk nonsense, baka, that's important! Will I go... will my soul go to... paradise? Will... we meet again...?'

And, yet another first time, Goku saw the fear in the prince's eyes. He cried harder.

'Of course you will! Don't be stupid! You deserve it like no other person I've ever met! We'll... we'll be together, and we'll have our bodies... our younger ones... and'  
He noticed that the prince had closed his eyes again. His voice sounded like it came from far away...

'That's... good...'

This time, Vegeta did not regain consciousness and a few days later the last prince of the Saiyajin died. Goku did not leave his bedside in those last days and even after the other was dead, he did not go back to his own little house but stayed in the home they had shared, awaiting his own end and by that the reunion with his lover.

When he finally noticed the first signs of old age in his face, he almost cried of relief.  
And the day Son Goku died was the happiest of his life.

Okay, that's it, thanks for reading Feel free to comment, especially if you liked it, but I also appreciate constructive criticism... 


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